JIA Asian Fusion & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Gastonia

To start, me and my partner had high expectations for the sea bass that was on the menu. Upon our arrival, we thought the restaurant would be a bit more upscale but it wasn’t. No biggie. Once we were seated, our waiter appeared to be somewhat unknowledgeable about the hot tea offered when I asked. Again, no biggie.

We finally ordered the Chilean Sea Bass (my partner) and the Cashew Sea Bass. Both were supposedly to come in a sauce and with some type of vegetable. I wanted extra vegetables but wanted to ensure they didn’t contain the ones I don’t care for, so I asked what came with them. And the waiter proceeded to tell me how much they cost, which I was aware as I was pointing to the menu lol. I just simply wanted to know what types of veggies came in the order.

Upon our food coming out, the waiter mixed up our orders and also brought out an extra order of vegetables that we didn’t order (one in addition to what the meals already came with and the one I intentionally ordered). But here’s the main issue. My partner’s Chilean Sea Bass. It was not hot. At all. And it was sitting in some kind of green gelatinous puddle. It was not sauce. My dish definitely was in sauce. Her meal didn’t even look remotely appetizing. So we sent it back.

I suppose the assistant manager was the one who came to our table. She proceeded to tell us the policy about returning food and how all they could do was reheat the dish and not take it off the ticket, which it wasn’t an option for us to reheat something that was no good. Also that we should have asked our waiter about the dish if we were unsure (which we weren’t because we know what sauce is). No other options to have another meal prepared, dessert, or anything. We simply agreed to just pay for it and left it at that.

Well, the story continues with me taking care of the bill and my partner eating off my plate. Then the assistant manager comes with a to go bag (which we never asked for) of my partner’s meal explaining again the same thing about heating it up and sauce and something else that wasn’t appropriate nor satisfactory. Overall, it just wasn’t the experience we were expecting and when visiting Charlotte again, we won’t return. I suppose the egg rolls and springs rolls were all we...

Food was better than average. Thing is... I called one hour ahead. Got there just as I said. Told the cashier (which I assumed so at the time) my name (full name) and that I had called 1 hour ahead and for it to be ready at this time.

I noticed there were 27 customers staged to be seated. I thought "MAN" the food in this place must be incredibly good. After watching the cashier bounce around with other customers, waitresses and management personal for 20 minutes I went over and ask. Ma'am... How much longer on my order? I called it in 1 hour and 20 minutes ago! I was firm but not rude.

The lady standing beside her ask me. Who did you let know you were hear to pickup your order? I said to her... The lady standing beside you. I gave her my full name and told her I called 1 hour in advance. She replied... Well, shes a cashier... No-one told me. I thought... What? I forgot to bring my mind reading hat... 🎩

I had noticed there were 3 bags on the top shelf in the takeout staging area. 1 plastic grocery bag type and two paper bags. She looked, grabbed the plastic bag and said here it is. I laughed and said... That bags been there ever since I came in 25 minutes ago!

Here's my thing. First. I really don't know how lomg it had actually been sitting there. Could it had been that 25 minutes plus 15, 30 or even 45 minutes longer? BTW... It was cold by the time I returned home. Secondly, this was their Mongolian Delight © and Lobster Cha Cha!. I've had Lobster Cha Cha before however, the Lobster tempura was way-way overdone. I had to throughout 1\4 of it away. A shame because it looked to be at least an 8 ounce tail. The Mongolian Deligjt was cold. Furthermore, the (cold) crispy fried rice was already drying out. So, forget about reheating that... I just made some cast iron crispy fried aromatic popcorn rice using toasted sesame oil. Eventhough the delight tasted well after throwing out some of the mushy onions, I noticed it didn't pair well with my rice.

Mongolian dishes traditionally have a predominant nuance of toasted sesame. This delight version (beef, chicken, shrimp) was predominantly with acidic and...

I actually love the food here, but the service is just bad. I found this place in January of this year and in the past 8 months have ordered from here multiple times a month. The food is great and we never had a problem until the last two times. The last time I admit was unfortunate circumstances. They had a busy day and when I placed my order they hadn’t expected an order with 8 sushi rolls, so the fact that it took an extra 20 minutes, I get. They also were nice enough to keep me updated and even offered me a drink while I waited. However this time there is no excuse. We ordered three apps, one meal, and four rolls of sushi at 3:30 pm. I set the pick up time for 4:45 and got a confirmation email that it would be ready at 4:49. I arrived at 4:45 and my order was not ready, so I waited. Not a single table was seated so between the four people behind the bar, the two wandering the restaurant and however many were in the kitchen, there was plenty of time to complete the orders that were taken AFTER I’d arrived at 4:45. People were ordering and getting their food and leaving before mine had come out. And not one person even looked me in the eye or stopped long enough for me to ask for the status of my order. Finally at 5:15, half an hour after my order should have been ready while I stood in the restaurant with no explanation (almost TWO HOURS after my order was placed) I was handed my bag and was told “sorry they forgot to cook your mussels”. I get that people are human, mistakes are made, but there was no attempt to rectify the situation, and the fact that no one (while having nothing else to do) could stop and say “hey sorry it’ll be a few minutes, they made a mistake”. I’ll be sad to not have this food going forward but I won’t be sad to miss the poor service.

Update: after getting home, I discovered that one of my rolls was not even made correctly, you’d think with two hours to make it they’d have been able to include all of the ingredients. Who wants an eel roll without eel...